


Reflections in the Lull

by ApocalypticFish



Category: Dept. Heaven Series, Knights in the Nightmare, Yggdra Union
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Post-The Trial, Regret, might continue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:55:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29839104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApocalypticFish/pseuds/ApocalypticFish
Summary: As they take a rest before heading into their final confrontation inside the throne room of Aventheim Castle, Yggdra looks back on her mistakes and shares a moment with her cohorts.
Kudos: 1





	Reflections in the Lull

Yggdra scrutinized the shining metal and card in her hand for what felt like the hundredth time.

Even as she and her cohorts were taking a rest before confronting their final enemy (well, hers--she was under no illusions that the others would go on to have many more enemies), she still wondered if this would work.

She pocketed them. If things went well, it wouldn't have to work. But then, they were lacking in allies--the Angels were busy in other worlds, holding off the denizens of the Underworld, and those that were left to address this one had died earlier that night. Furthermore, the one person that would have been able to ensure their victory, the Arbitrator, was already long since dead. Their odds were far from the best.

Once more, she envied the one of her that had set aside her sword, the one she had seen in that vision.

A world of peace, unconstrained by the grudges of the past...a world of peace, that would last forever...

If only she had been that Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz.

She had discarded that possibility, and had declared war on the heavens. She had discarded that, and in doing so had allowed those of The Underworld, Hades, to run free.

If she hadn't done that, the odds wouldn't have been so poor. If she hadn't done that, maybe there would have been hope for the people of this world. As it was, the roaming souls were certain to fade in time, with no hope of being returned to their bodies.

Sure, she had excised some corruption, but what of it? She had directly killed thousands in doing so, and had killed millions, maybe billions or trillions more, through her foolhardiness.

Asgard rarely interacted with the mortal worlds. If they did, it was always brief, and for the sake of either defending Asgard or defending those worlds.

In truth, the only ones that really could have benefited from the removal of corruption was Asgard itself, but that could only hold if she had been able to do it in a way that didn't cripple their power.

Now, the only ones that were benefiting were those that wanted to plunge the universe into chaos.

...They really were right. Mistel. Nietzsche. Pamela. And...she couldn't remember, anymore. Was it Rosary, or was it Roswell? Was it Elena? She could only be sure that those three were among those that refused to go forward with her, and definitely some soldiers, but she couldn't remember anymore.

It really was a cruel joke.

She muttered, in a voice that she was sure nobody else could hear, "I don't remember your name, but...at least in this reality, we really were fools, you and I. We turned our back on our ideals, while declaring we were acting in the name of them, and we failed to listen to those that told us that we were doing so."

She sighed, and sat up from where she had lain on the carpeted floor. The desolate castle was only dimly lit by torches, but it had already been night for hours. There were no issues with sight.

She spared a glance to the woman by her side, the horned princess. "Are you really fine with continuing past this point? There's a good chance that none of us are coming out of this alive."

The princess gave a curt nod, continuing to whet her blade. "I accepted that possibility the moment I took up this crown. If we don't succeed, then we only stand to die anyway."

Yggdra's gaze turned away from her, to look at the ground in front of her. It was rather clean, despite the emptiness of the castle. "I see. If we do succeed, though...what are your plans from here, other than repairing Sacchito? Are you going to take control of those remaining here? Do you intend on going back to the hidden land?"

"I do not intend on running anymore, Yggdra. Though many of my people have died from this, and many others have too, if we succeed, we would be remiss to not try to make the most out of this opportunity; we have a duty as people to try our utmost in any and all situations. Maybe that will entail taking more people under my wing, maybe that will entail something else. If I can bring about the end of discrimination against the Tiamats, the Mehse, everyone, I will do my utmost to secure that future."

Yggdra was silent for a moment.

Truthfully, she wished--not envied, wished--that she could have the same enthusiasm, the same drive as her. For a moment, she could almost hear a voice in the back of her head, telling her that it doesn't have to remain like this forever, that maybe, someday, she can feel absolved enough to feel like that again, but...

Then, she replied, "That's good, Alier. I hope that you manage to grasp that dream, and that you don't wind up making the mistakes of the past."

"I don't plan on forgetting the mistakes that we have made before, nor do I plan on forgetting what you have told me."

Yggdra gave a grim smile. "I'm glad."

A few moments of silence passed, the only thing breaking it being Alier pressing the whetstone to her blade, Yggdra stood up, and walked over to Pamela, the witch, one she had known far longer than the others that were accompanying her currently. She appeared to be leaning against the wall, staring at the ceiling. She was smiling, as usual.

"Are you sure you're fine with this, Pamela?"

She hummed, and put a finger to her chin. Only a few seconds passed, before she answered, "Yep. If you die, I can't get your secret from you, if we both die, we're both dead, and if that King isn't stopped, then everyone's dead."

"I see."

She fell silent. As usual, she wasn't sure how to respond to her.

Well, that wasn't really correct. The truth was, with her demeanor...she felt awkward bringing it up.

She steeled herself. If there was ever a time to ask, it was now. "Are you really fine working with me, Pamela? I know what I did, and I know what you truly thought. You didn't leave because Nietzsche left. You left because you saw what I had done for what it was. Are you really fine working with me, just because I happen to have some method of immortality that you don't know about?"

As Yggdra finished her statement, the permanent smile dropped from Pamela's face. Then, she sighed, and spoke, in a departure from almost every other time she'd heard her speak, almost entirely lacking in cheer, "Yggdra. I left because I thought what you had done by marching on Asgard was wrong. That much is right. Frankly, if it was just the immortality, then I wouldn't be fine working with you. But that's not it. Yggdra, I'm here because you've become a better, wiser person than who you once were. You aren't the Yggdra you were before you made those mistakes...but you're better than you were then, and I don't hate you."

"...Thank you. It's good to have you on-board."

The smile sprung back onto her face. "No worries!"

With that done, she turned to Vilgo, who was floating just a few feet above the floor.

Quietly, she made her way over, and asked, "You're sure that you're ready to die?"

He nodded without hesitation. "I have long since stopped fearing death. Though we are finally free from the curse of immortality, that has not changed. Rather, if we are to die from demons mere days after regaining our mortality, I will not die quietly. For their sake."

She thought he'd answer with something like that, but it was good to make sure. "I understand."

Well, that was everyone.

She walked over to the double-doors, the only things standing between themselves and their final confrontation with the King of the Underworld, before turning to look out over her three cohorts. "Are we all ready?"

Alier set her whetstone down and stood up, swiping her sword through the air. "I am ready."

Pamela pushed off the wall, and lifted her staff into the air. "Ready~!"

Vilgo only nodded.

"Very well. Then, let us go."

She turned back to face the doors, and pushed.

**Author's Note:**

> I definitely could've made something longer, but this feels sufficient at the moment. I feel like the title's changed like five times so far.
> 
> Also, this may in part be a refutation of a common misconception I've seen among some particular sectors of the fanbase.


End file.
